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New Snow (Resort): 15cm (Yamabiko)
New Snow (Village): 10cm of snow which has now been completely melted by the rain…
Weather: Rain
Snow Depth: 220cm (Yamabiko)
Outlook: Cooling down and snowing heavily this evening.
Open Areas: Almost everything is open except Kurokura and Hachiman. Kandahar is open.

Just when we thought winter was going to make a late start and really get cracking, it has gone and started raining. I woke up at 3am this morning and was delighted to see that it was snowing, when I got up at 7 however it was light drizzle and the snow which fell this morning had become heavy. The rain has settled in for now. The good news is that as this low system passes by the winds will change to nor-westers – meaning its going to get cold again and start snowing later on and it should be fresh with powder for the weekend.

Maybe I am just being greedy as I got more than my fair share of thigh deep+ snow yesterday, but I can’t help but lament what could have been if only it was a few degrees colder.

The forecast calls for a mix of mostly snow for the top of the mountain and rain/snow in the village over the coming week.

New Snow (Resort): 30cm+
New Snow (Village): 30cm+
Weather: Fine
Snow Depth: 220cm (Yamabiko)
Outlook: More snow over the next few days.
Open Areas: Almost everything is open except Kurokura and Hachiman. Kandahar is open.

Apologies for not posting a report yesterday. Yesterday saw a few centimetres of snow in the morning to freshen things up, and it was a fine day after that. Around 630pm the snow started really winding up, and we woke up this morning to about as much fresh stuff as we had the other day. The best thing was that it fell on a soft base not sheet ice. It was at least knee deep everywhere and a fantastic day to be on the mountain.

The forecast calls for more precipitation over the next week, unfortunately this will likely be rain in the village and on the lower slopes.

New Snow (Resort): 30cm+
New Snow (Village): 30cm+
Weather: Cloudy with light snow
Snow Depth: 210cm (Yamabiko)
Outlook: More snow over the next few days.
Open Areas: Almost everything is open except Kurokura and Hachiman. Kandahar is open.

Very heavy snow fell constantly for 24 hours and the reset button has been hit in Nozawa Onsen. There is beautiful light dry powder everywhere. The snow on the lower slopes is knee deep but with an icy bottom, I imagine on Yamabiko they have bottomless.

It has been snowing hard since early this morning right down to the village. The locals have got the shovels back out of storage and are ready to go. A very good sign.

Choose your weapon

Throughout the day snow in the village was quite wet, however late in the afternoon the temperature dropped and light dry snow started to pile up. The following photo shows the snow measurement twig outside Nagano Go HQ. It has been lying forgetten in a sad state of disuse for the last month or so, with even the bottom few centimetres struggling to get a workout on a good day.

15 cm of snow recorded since 3pm this afternoon

The JMA radar and forecast is predicting heavy snow to continue until at least the early hours. I think we can already say that tomorrow is going to be a great day - hopefully when I update with a photo of the twig first thing tomorrow we can see a lot less of it.

Get buried

Finally the weather has come through. Tomorrow should be an absolute cracker and its an understatement to say I’m looking forward to it.

New Snow (Resort): 15cm+
New Snow (Village): 5cm
Weather: Snow
Snow Depth: 180cm (Yamabiko)
Outlook: More snow over the next few days.
Open Areas: Almost everything is open except Kurokura and Hachiman. Kandahar is open.

Finally we have it snowing good and proper in Nozawa – falling thick and fast, and let me tell you its a glorious sight. It’s only just below zero and the flakes are barely getting a foothold in terms of settling in the village. Up on the mountain the slopes are rejuvenating and if this keeps up as forecast tomorrow should be completely recharged and a different mountain. There have been very few Challenge/Schneider/Utopia days (top to bottom deep powder) this season so tomorrow morning I will be rearing to go.

The forecast is for temperatures to cool further and more snow to fall over the coming days.

New Snow (Resort): Nil
New Snow (Village): Nil
Weather: Fine
Snow Depth: 175cm (Yamabiko – Eeek)
Outlook: Snow tonight, finally.
Open Areas: Almost everything is open except Kurokura and Hachiman. Kandahar is closed for the weekend.

At least it is sunny today. The snow has thawed out and after being very hard in the morning, would now be very, very wet. It is very warm in the village at the moment, skiing in a T-shirt would not make you look out of place.

All eyes are on the weather radar, at the moment JMA predicts the weather to come in at about 8pm this evening. Hopes are high that we get a lot of snow this week as forecast. The word is that snow doesn’t settle as well in late February, so the base needs to be added to now in order for the lower slopes to hold up through March. I will be keeping a close eye on the snow situation and will post an update as soon as anything happens.

New Snow (Resort): Nil
New Snow (Village): Nil
Weather: Fine
Snow Depth: 205cm (Yamabiko)
Outlook: Rain tomorrow, followed by a front which should bring proper winter weather to Nozawa.
Open Areas: Almost everything is open except Kurokura and Hachiman. Kandahar is closed for the weekend.

The last 24 hours on the mountain has been pretty shocking. We saw rain yesterday from late afternoon through the night, and awoke to drizzle, very poor visibility (almost nothing on Yamabiko), and 25cm less snow on the mountain. Absolutely miserable.

Things are looking up for the next week or so, we are expecting the goods almost every day.

New Snow (Resort): Nil
New Snow (Village): Nil
Weather: Fine
Snow Depth: 205cm (Yamabiko)
Outlook: Rain tomorrow, followed by a front which should bring proper winter weather to Nozawa.
Open Areas: Almost everything is open except Kurokura and Hachiman.

It is a very warm and overcast day in Nozawa today. Temperatures are up around double digits in the village and up on the mountain conditions are very spring-like. Normally in mid-February a lot of time is spent clearing snow from driveways, paths and roofs. This year villagers are struggling to scrape up enough snow for a snowman.

The forecast is for overnight rain and then for a system to come through with proper cold temperatures and good snow – it is looking really good at this stage, let’s just hope that the forecast is more accurate than it has had a tendency to be this year.